Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides Monday 25th August and Tuesday 26th August 2003
After a trip around the migrant hotpots within Lowestoft, Robert Wilton, Andrew Easton, James Brown and Roger Conner travelled up to Gunton, I had lunch then popped out early afternoon to look for migrants, the odd Pied Flycatcher and several Northern Wheatears that had been brought in by the moderate north east winds, had been noted by them and as I walked through Corton Woods I noted two Pied Flycatchers. Receiving a call from Rob Wilton we all met up at the Dip Farm car park and we slowly walked up the shelter belt around the golf course and down the disused railtrack back on to the football pitches and down towards the car park, we stopped to look at the shelter belt once again, and I caught a glimpse of a Phylloscopus warbler and remarked upon it because we hadn’t seen many despite the prevailing weather conditions, its silent appearance was brief in the leafy silver poplar canopy and the others thought it was worth investigating, I went around to the other side to get a better view and AE saw it first and remarked on the whiteness of the belly, excitement grew, perhaps a Wood Warbler? It looked small though and a minute later Andrew was again in the right place when the bird showed itself and this time he saw the head markings and flared supercelium well enough to clinch the identification of Greenish Warbler!
Some observers who twitched the bird remarked upon the apparent features linking it to Green Warbler, but this was dismissed as trick of the light because the yellow leaves on the tree sometimes reflected onto the birds pale throat and face. It did cause a little controversy though! It also spent time in pine/conifer bushes which is also a characteristic of this ‘sub-species’.
From start to finish this bird over its two day stay was very elusive, and moved rapidly up and down the shelter belt, even fooling some present into thinking was there two birds. It kept hidden in tree foliage, when it was seen it was restless and mobile, fast flying up and down the hedge. Showed well on the second day, when it gave a little sub song. As a result sadly no photographs of the bird could be taken. After submission of all required notes and descriptions the record was accepted by the relevant committees.
Finding my first National Rarity - A First Winter Black-headed Bunting at Gunton, Lowestoft. 25th September 2002
It was a partly cloudy morning in late September, I headed the short distance up to my local patch of Gunton, I felt a good feeling of anticipation as the previous couple of days had produced promising easterly winds with blustery sharp showers, which to any east coast birder is a good enough excuse to go out anytime in the autumn looking for that national rarity or “big one” which we all promise to see each other next again at. As I reached the Gunton stubble field and the disused railway line it was about bang on 9am, whilst when scanning with my bins I noticed a strikingly pale Bunting sitting openly in a Hawthorne bush flanked by a male and female Yellowhammer. I noticed the breast of the bird was strikingly pale, unstreaked and there was also a yellowish vent and some conspicuous white margins to the wing feathers that I thought was unusual. Creeping up closer and closer, I obtained better views but being new to the local intensive birding and being only my second experience of proper autumn migration, I couldn’t think what it could be. The bird then flew off north up the hedge and settled again with the Yellowhammers; in fight I noticed it had looked larger.
At this point, wondering who was off work to phone I followed the birds down and heard to my surprise what sounded like another birder "pishing" from inside the old railtrack and it turned out to be my friend and fellow Lowestoft birder James Brown, who had taken a VERY LUCKY day off from school teaching (he did look quite pale and ill...). I immediately alerted him to the bird and when he got on to it, he noticed it was certainly different and when it flew again it this time called with a distinctive "zurrip" note that made the alarm bells ring, his more than mine! James immediately went to retrieve his Collins Guide, which he had thoughtfully left at home at Hopton 5 miles up the road. Now I was faced with the daunting task of keeping on the bird, trying not to lose it, until he got back. The bird kept flying from the hedge and into the stubble, following the Yellowhammers, I didn’t want it to be lost in the stubble so I went about quietly coaxing it back to the hedge by flushing it from a distance, trying not to make it fly off high and away somewhere else. About 10 minutes later to my relief James returned and having successfully kept on the bird, we analysed its ID features and we both came to the conclusion it was either a first winter Red-headed or Black-headed Bunting. We phoned a few local Lowestoft birders who came to have a look. Being a weekday most were at work and received the news via mobile phone voice mail, text messages or a quick sneaky look on Birdguides when the boss wasn’t about! A few who were luckily off came along and when the ID debate was discussed further, the news was phoned out to various bird news services.
As the morning progressed and more other observers arrived, the consensus of opinion was well and truly pointing in favour to it being a first winter Black-headed Bunting, with its good chunky sized bill, chestnut mantle streaks, strong head streaking and its slightly larger size in flight compared to the Yellowhammers. As more and more people arrived, I got the feeling of pride 'This is happen because of me! And the I found part of the reason why I actually go out in most weathers birding. This really felt like something special, people who I had never seen before, but had read about in magazines and internet discussion groups, some of these very well known in the twitching and year listing rat race. The bird continued to show well throughout the day, including more of the “Lounge Lizards” who managed to scrape time off work. There was a blip at lunchtime when it went missing for an hour to some birders annoyance but thankfully most managed to catch up with it in the evening. It stayed into the next day, the 25th, where it briefly departed early morning to the south, but as re-found an hour later back at the old railway line, it showed on and off all day but by the next day the 26th, it had appeared to have gone well and truly for good, no trace of it. Now was the time to sit down and write up that description!
A number of good pictures were taken of the bird, which can be seen on the September 2002 news page of the website of the
Lowestoft Bird Club.Moral - Now there’s nothing like local patch birding is there?...